Chawton House facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Chawton House |
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Chawton House from the North West, 2008
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| Location | Chawton, England |
Chawton House is a beautiful old manor house in Hampshire, England. It's a very important historic building, first built in 1580.
In the late 1700s, it was the home of Edward Austen Knight, the brother of the famous writer Jane Austen.
For a long time, it was a private home. But then, a special charity bought it. They fixed it up and turned it into a research center.
Today, Chawton House works with the nearby University of Southampton. It has a huge library with over 9,000 books and old papers. This library is called The Centre for the Study of Early Women's Writing, 1600–1830. It celebrates the connection to Jane Austen and other women writers.
You can visit the house for tours and special events. The parkland around the house is always open for walks, and you might even see a herd of sheep!
Contents
Discovering Chawton House
The current Chawton House was started in 1580 by John Knight. It was built on the site of an even older house. The Knight family had owned this land since 1551. Over the years, the house was changed and updated in the 1700s and 1800s.
The house is made of flint stone with special stone decorations and a tiled roof. The front of the house, facing south, has two main floors and an attic. You can see three pointed gables on the roof in the picture on the left.
John Knight was an important person in his time. He was a Member of Parliament for Lymington and also served as the High Sheriff of Hampshire.
The house stayed in the Knight family for many years. When the male line of the family ended, it passed to relatives who took the Knight name to inherit it. Eventually, it came to Edward Austen, Jane Austen's older brother. He also added "Knight" to his name.
The Knight family continued to own the estate until 1987. By then, the house was in poor condition. Richard Knight, the owner at the time, sold it in 1992.
Chawton House is surrounded by about 275 acres (1.1 square kilometers) of beautiful countryside. After a lot of work to restore it, the house is now open to visitors. It's also used for conferences, weddings, and has even been a filming location!
The Village Church
Right between Chawton House and the main road is St Nicholas Church.
The church building you see today was built in 1872. However, a sign inside says that a church has stood on this spot since 1289! The main part of the current church was paid for by Sir Arthur Blomfield after a fire in 1871.
In the churchyard, you can find the graves of Cassandra Austen, Jane Austen's older sister, and their mother.
The Special Library
In 1992, a foundation created by Sandra Lerner and Leonard Bosack bought a 125-year lease on Chawton House for £1.25 million. Sandra and Leonard were the people who started Cisco Systems, a big technology company.
The Library officially opened in 2003 for special scholars and researchers. It holds a collection of over 9,000 books and original handwritten papers.
The Library works closely with the University of Southampton. It's a very important place for students studying the 1700s.
In 2015, Chawton House opened its doors to everyone, not just scholars.
The Library is now known as The Centre for the Study of Early Women's Writing, 1600–1830.
Women Writers
Chawton House Library is a special place for research. It focuses on books written by women in English between 1600 and 1830. The main goal of the library is to help people study and learn about these early women writers.
Here are some of the female authors whose works you can find at the Library:
- Mary Astell (1666-1731)
- Jane Austen (1775–1817)
- Penelope Aubin (1679–1738)
- Aphra Behn (1640–1689)
- Frances Brooke (1724–1789)
- Mary Brunton (1778–1818)
- Frances Burney (1752–1840)
- Sarah Burney (1772–1844)
- Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle-upon-Tyne (1623-1673)
- Isabelle de Charrière (1740–1805)
- Maria Edgeworth (1768–1849)
- Sarah Fielding (1710–1768)
- Mary Hays (1760–1824)
- Eliza Haywood (1693–1756)
- Lucy Hutchinson (1620-1681)
- Elizabeth Inchbald (1753–1821)
- Sophia Lee (1750–1824)
- Harriet Lee (1757–1851)
- Charlotte Lennox (1729–1804)
- Bathsua Makin (1600-1675)
- Delarivier Manley (1663–1724)
- Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (1689–1762)
- Sydney Owenson, Lady Morgan (1783–1859)
- Mary Pix (1666-1709)
- Ann Radcliffe (1764–1823)
- Mary Darby Robinson (1758–1800)
- Anna Seward (1742–1809)
- Mary Shelley (1797–1851)
- Charlotte Turner Smith (1749–1806)
- Elizabeth Byron Strutt (1805–1863)
- Melesina Chenevix St. George Trench (1768–1827)
- Mary Wollstonecraft (1759–1797)
The Knight Family Collection
The Library also has the Knight Collection. These are books that belonged to the Knight family, who lived at Chawton House for 400 years. Edward Austen Knight, Jane Austen's brother, owned many of these books. We know that Jane Austen herself used this collection for her writing!
Novels Online Project
The Novels Online project is a special effort to make rare books from the Chawton House Library available for free online. This helps new readers discover these old stories.
These texts cover many interesting topics like satire, slavery, marriage, witchcraft, and pirates. The online versions are exactly like the originals, even keeping any printing mistakes.
The Beautiful Gardens
The gardens at Chawton House are open to the public when the house is open. You can also visit The Old Kitchen Tearoom there.
The gardens have been carefully restored. A lot of work went into fixing up the Walled Garden. Edward Knight, Jane Austen's brother, wanted to build a new walled garden. In 1813, Jane Austen wrote about his plans.
Most of Edward Knight's original walls are still there. However, the glasshouses and potting sheds had to be rebuilt. The gardens have been replanted using Edward Austen Knight's original ideas.
The main part of the walled garden grows vegetables, fruits, herbs, and flowers. Chawton House is certified as an organic farm. Everything grown in the garden is used by the Library, and any extra produce is sold locally to help the charity.
The park and gardens of Chawton House are listed as important historic sites in England.
Jane Austen's Connection
Chawton House is only about 400 meters away from the cottage where Jane Austen lived for the last eight years of her life. That cottage is now the Jane Austen's House Museum. Both Chawton House and Jane Austen's House are run by separate charities.
Jane Austen often visited what she called the 'Great House'. She mentioned it many times in her letters. Her brother, Edward Austen, also lent the house to his other brother, Francis Austen. Edward Austen himself lived at Godmersham Park. But his son, Edward Knight II, moved to Chawton House after he got married.
Chawton House is where the Jane Austen Society of the United Kingdom holds its yearly meeting. In 2003, the Jane Austen Society of North America also held a big anniversary meeting in the grounds of Chawton House.
Visiting Chawton House
Chawton House and its Gardens are open to the public up to seven days a week in the summer. If you want to use the library's special collections, you can also get access to the Library itself.
Fun Events
Many events are held regularly at the library. These events cover topics about the House, the Gardens, and the materials in the Library. Some examples include:
- Talks by visiting experts.
- Exhibitions of interesting items.
- Arts events.
- Other special days like Heritage Open Days, Garden Tours, and early morning walks.
The Library also offers educational visits for schools, colleges, and universities. This gives students and teachers a chance to learn about different topics inside a real historic building. They can choose from a set program or ask for a special session to study specific areas in more detail.
